A residency program for artists fades quietly

Lacour said the university is re-evaluating its role and that the program could resurface in some form. Riccio said he plans to hold a performance at Southside in May about a woman with multiple personality disorder. The building has also agreed to lend him a loft for the semester to teach a new media class.

"The residency was sort of confining. Professors didn't see Southside as an opportunity beyond the residency program. Now they do," Riccio said. "All the professors are figuring out ways they can use that space."

Mark Graham

Developer Jack Matthews created an artists colony at his Southside on Lamar lofts.

That may achieve the developer's objectives of keeping some sort of artists colony in his basement, but Weiner and others say Dallas needs a residency program, whether it's at Southside or somewhere else. "There is a real need for a program like this to establish unknown artists; otherwise, they'll go somewhere else." Riccio said. "This is a hot scene. It's ready to pop. It just needs a shove, and a residency program could be that."